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Thursday, 12 March 2015

Sometimes people make huge mistakes when writing their villains and this is a terrible thing! Villains are nearly the most important character in your story. They might even come before the hero. So today I'm listing a few mistakes people often make when writing villains.

They forget the backstory

I have no idea why, but no one ever seems to pay attention the villain's background. What drove them to do what they do? You'd be surprised how many books forget this important question. So many authors just decide what the villain does and forgets his motive.

But to truly understand your villain you need even more than just this question. Ask yourself questions like: What was their childhood like? What was the big turning point for them? Even, how many siblings did they have?

You might not mention any of these things in your story, but having a good outline of your villain makes you understand them better. And once you understand them, you can properly get onto, what drove them to be who they are?

They don't mention the villain till the end

﻿Not everyone feels the same about this. And it might be different in your book, but readers can't properly understand a villain until they've spent sometime around them.

Try to give whole scenes to the villain. See them in their element. Even before the hero arrives the villain can have their own bit. Think of them as another main character if you'd like. They needs that screen time to properly develop!

They make the villain all bad

I know a villain is supposed to be BAD, but just remember, they're still human. Please remember that. Readers don't want to hate the villain. In fact villains are nearly always my favourite characters.

Add something about your villain which people can like﻿. It doesn't have to be big. It's the small things which people notice. Maybe he won't hurt women and children or maybe he can't bring himself to use a gun?

It's these small things which help to properly shape that villain. They're not the obvious things. They're well hidden and the villain won't want anyone to know about them, but they're there.

They don't give them a weakness

Come on, please! We all have weaknesses. And weaknesses in a villain make for a really interesting story. They can sure come in handy later on.

Weaknesses can go two ways. There they can be of a terrible variety. ﻿I like they can't stop drinking or it can be of the good variety, like a weakness for cats. Maybe not the last one, but you see my point.

Another thing to remember is that weakness can also do two different things to a villain. Either they can be made a worse person because they hate that weakness. Or it effects them.

Or it could make them a slightly better person. Give them a softer, more gentle side. Don't give me that look. Villains can have soft sides too. And don't you forget it!

There are so many other things I could talk about here, but I'll leave it at this. Do you agree with my thoughts? Do you have anything to add? I'd love to hear about it!

This is the first of a few writing post ideas I have. Working up to Camp NaNo I'd do a few posts like this. Just to work up the spirit!

Wednesday, 11 March 2015

My Fan Week is over and now Heather @ Sometimes I'm a Story asking us all how we went. And so today I'm posting my results.

What statistics do you have to share?
Ok so I think I visited around twenty new blogs (is that enough), left TWO comments on each of those blogs, visited all the blogs I already follow and commented there. I also followed around five new blogs and unfollowed six.

I know it sounds like a really pore try. I seemed never have the time. Considering some days I didn't even get on to the computer, I'm rather proud of myself.

Did you find or learn anything new and exciting this week?

I actually did find out a few things. Book bloggers are the best!!! Most of the blogs I started reading are book bloggers. Which is really strange considering I used to read only life style bloggers.

Are there any blogs that made you want to make you change something about your own?

No one go crazy, but yes I have decided to make a few changes. For a while I've felt my blogging niche has been changing. But I've tried to keep it how it was, thinking people wouldn't like it if my content changed. But fan week has taught me not to worry about that and focus on what is really important, friends and doing what you want.

So from now on expect more book posts, religious and writing pieces. They're what I'm truly interested in at the moment and I'd really like to write more about them.

I've also realised that I could be doing more in the blogging community. So from now on I want to comment more and better on other people's blogs and actively seek out other blogs to follow.

What was your favourite part? Your least favourite part?

My favourite bit was seeing all these other blogs and what they did. Properly taking the time to read and enjoy what they're doing.

My least favourite part was not having enough time. Many days I had to go out and I missed visiting other blogs. In the end I held my Fan Week out over about a week and a half to make up.

Did you enjoy your experience? Would you do it again?

Yes! I had the best time ever. It was amazing. I want to do this again soon.

Look out for my blogging changes coming up soon. I'm looking forward to sharing them. I hope you're looking forward to them as well.

Tuesday, 10 March 2015

Everyone, please welcome Nicole Rose who has kindly agreed to guest post today for me. For ages I've looked up to her, so I'm really excited to see what she has to say!

So you're getting on your computer, pulling up Blogger (or any other social platform site you adore) with smile - until your eyes flicker to the side, and your expression melts into a frown. You could've sworn you had 53 readers. Now you only have 52.

I've experienced this multiple times over all aspects of my social media life. During the big Instagram spam account delete, I lost over 100 followers. This devastated me (even though they were inactive accounts anyway). And though that sort of touches on another topic and it doesn't quite apply to this, it still hurt. That's why I decided to organize this for you guys today. I know it's hard to lose followers - especially when you're feeling insecure, small or unheard. So please take your time in going through this post, and let me know in the comments if this was helpful. :)

It's not you. It's them.

This may seem like something people tell themselves to feel better about things, and it is. It truly is. But because of the truth that resonates through these words, it's calming. Someone unfollowed you. So what? It's truly their loss. You have great content to share, and if they can't see that, it's not your fault. They just didn't have the right set of eyes.

But this can only go so far. Up to a certain point, it may not just be them. It may be the connection you have.

You can't appeal to everyone.

Why do you think their are so many different categories and businesses and services offered around the same thing? Take graphic design for example. There are so many services out there that offer this, but people end up choosing one over the other. Why? Because of compatibility. The designer they choose may have the right work ethic or personality that appeals to them. They might have the right skill set or offerings. And there's always the factor of budget. Take all this into consideration and apply it to your website (or blog or social media account). Do you see what I'm saying now?

Some people just aren't compatible with others. And that's okay. Grand compatibility is boring anyway - enjoy your unique and small community. Because once your numbers start growing, you lose that personal touch and may begin to wander. Which leads to the next point.

Human beings are wanderers.

We stray from things all the time. Just watch the trends - one second, we're obsessing over Alex from Target, and in the next, we're fighting over the colors of a simple dress. It gets hectic. And due to this chaos, we're easily distracted. We wander. Which may be the case with your unfollower. He or she is heading down their own path, and you shouldn't take it personally when their path deviates from your own. That's just how life is.

Summary

All in all, the twisted gut feeling you got when you saw your numbers going down, is natural. Everyone has felt that. You're allowed to get upset over this. The best thing to do when you get this feeling is remind yourself of the points above. Take a deep breath, center yourself around your self-importance and remember that you're not defined by who follows you.

You're defined by who you choose to be.

Thank you for reading.

xx Nicole Rose

Nicole Rose is a teen blogger who believes creative expression and self-knowledge are important things every person needs to live a fulfilling life. She owns a web design shop and enjoys indulging herself with peanut butter cups as she pretends to get stuff done. She takes enjoyment in word experimentation, dancing to crazy teeny bopper tunes and laughing at her own jokes. Learn more about her here.

Monday, 9 March 2015

I was saying my evening prayers, asking God to help me through some tough times I've been having, when suddenly it struck me. How much do we ask God for? How many things to we beg him to help us with?

The answer is a lot. When you have a problem, you ask him to help you through it. And that's good. God will always help us and he enjoys doing so.

But after our problem is gone, we seem to forget about God. Let him slip straight back into background and just get back into life. As easy as that.

We're forgetting something though. How many times do you thank God for his help? For all your blessing? Even for just listening to you? HOW MANY?!

I know for me personally, sadly not many. Which I realise is wrong. Why should we expect help if we're not even thankful for it? We don't realise what a blessing we have.

So that's why I'm taking up a new practise before bed each night. I'm going to go through my day and pick out ten things which I'm thankful for. Just ten. And then I'll say a decade of the rosary, thanking God for those TEN things.

It's not that big a thing, but I believe it's one step in the right direction to being a more thankful person and truly recognising everything God has done for us.

I want to be grateful for my life and be closer to God. And I believe this will help me. Just doing the small things will make a huge difference.

So whose joining me? Can you think of anything to be grateful for today?

I don't often write religious posts. I realise not even a quarter of my readers are Catholics or even Christens. So I try not to offend those readers. But today I just felt like writing something close to my heart. Something that really stirs me. Sorry if this isn't what you expected, I just needed to say it!

Tuesday, 3 March 2015

Today for the first time EVER I'm joining with Tell Me Tuesday. It's a link up where we all get to tell everyone about the books we're reading and what we will be reading in the future. It's held by the amazing Please Feed The Bookworm and La La In The Library.

Currently I'm working my way through Jane of Lantern Hill by L.M Montgomery. It's not as famous as the Anne of Green Gables, but still amazing!

For as long as she could remember, Jane Stuart and her mother lived with her grandmother in a dreary mansion in Toronto. Jane always believed her father was deaduntil she accidentally learned he was alive and well and living on Prince Edward Island. When Jane spends the summer at his cottage on Lantern Hill, doing all the wonderful things Grandmother deems unladylike, she dares to dream that there could be such a house back in Toronto...a house where she, Mother, and Father could live together without Grandmother directing their livesa house that could be called home.

I've always been slightly iffy about Anne of Green Gables, but not so with Jane of Lantern Hill. I'm really enjoying this one. It's a nice change from those fantasy books I keep reading.

Once I've finished this book, I think I might read The Three Musketeers.

One of my friends has been telling me I should read it for ages, so I'm finally getting around to following their advice.

So what about you? What are you reading? Is there anything you want to read in the near future? Have you read The Three Musketeers? Is it as good as everyone says?

Sometimes I feel as if my blogging life and my real life are totally different, but recently I've been realising that doesn't have to be the case. So I'm resolved to involve my real life more in my blogging one. A post is coming on this soon.

Monday, 2 March 2015

The other day I had this amazing idea, what if I created a series where I tell you about my life? What would people think of that? It could be weekly, bi-weekly or even monthly, depending on what you'd like. But would you like to hear about me?

The other day, me and Carmen, a crazy friend of mine, decided we were going to go busking. So in case you didn't know, I don't sing very well, yet the plan was to go sing and play the guitar. Properly not the best idea.

"It'll be fun," is Carmen's way of making me agree to anything and for some reason it always works on me.

So there we were, heading into town on a hot summers day with our guitars and music. I must admit I was shaking in my sandals. I've never busked before or even sung and played in public, so I didn't know what to expect.

I was lucky though, because if there is one thing Carmen beats me in, it's preforming (she beats me in a lot of other places as well though).

Carmen's mum, waved us off as she left us to our music making. She, properly fearing that noise we'd create, had decided to go do a bit of shopping while waiting for us.

Together, we set ourselves up and opened our music. Terrified out of my wits I opened my mouth to sing and let me tell you, it wasn't half as scary as I thought it would be and it's taught me something.

I've learnt that always challenge yourself, even though it scares you, do it. Don't let your fears get the better of you. Because if you do, you'll miss out on so many great things!

To be honest, I'm glad I went busking with Cameron. I had a great time. Most likely I didn't sound any good, but I was with my friend, we were laughing and doing what we enjoy. That was all that matters. And I'll tell you another thing, I'm going to do it again. I've found out I enjoy busking and singing for people.

So that's the moral of this story. Just enjoy yourself and have fun!

What have you done that's scared you recently? Do you like doing things that aren't in your comfort zone?

Sunday, 1 March 2015

I've always felt something special for February. It's such a special, but short month of the year, don't you think. But sadly it's over for another year. Today I thought I'd go and recap what happened in that awesome month!

Interviews
I can't quite believe I had four special interviews this month. I'm almost out at the moment, but I've still got a few waiting to go up. So those should appear this month.

But for those of you who didn't see these posts, or would like to reread them, here's the links:

Writing
Most months this is a massive area, but for some reason I didn't get quite so much published. Properly for the reason that I was working on a novel, but anyway, here are the posts I did end up sharing:

The Author

Hi! I'm Kat. The teen who is more than a slight bit nutty, with an obsession for Dr Who and a love of all things nerd. What else? Oh yes I can't live without chocolate, I would die without my books and I adore movies. That's me!